After the Spring:
Youth Economic Empowerment
Tarik M. Yousef
Silatech and Brookings
Arab Youth
The challenge of youth economic inclusion
In the context of a “youth bulge” – in which 2/3 of the population is under 30 and 1/3 is between the ages of 15 and 30 – youth are facing
exclusion from the markets that are vital for normative transitions to adulthood.
• Low quality education
• Poor employment outcomes:
• Low participation rates
• High unemployment rates
• Employment increasingly informal
• Delay in marriage, family formation
• High cost of housing
• Limited access to finance
Arab Youth
The legacy of institutional rigidities
• Public sector employment opportunities for youth have declined, but:
• High salaries, benefits have continued to attract youth.
• Lure of public employment incentivizes reinforces credentialism.
• Creative skills are costly to acquire and are neglected:
• Do not enhance results on comprehensive exams, university admission.
• Do not strengthen chances for public sector employment.
• Private sector resists hiring new entrants due to restrictive labor market regulations:
• High costs to formal hiring and firing of workers
• High mandates severance packages.
• Lack of access to credit has undermined economic power of youth in
housing market and as new business owners.
The Arab Spring
Youth outcomes in the context of revolution
After the spring, can the region embark comprehensive reform of institutional structures affecting youth exclusion while ensuring their participation?
Two possibly conflicting goals:
• The first is to ensure that the voice of youth is integrated into a rapidly changing political context and that their expectations are embedded in policy formulation
• The second requires sustained long-term reform projects that would require difficult choices in a complex political environment that might not align with expectations
No less challenging is the task of absorbing short-term pressures without undermining sustained long-term policy reforms
Old and new governments will lean toward similar strategies of public sector-led employment and investment ……status-quo bias in the face of vulnerability
What Can Be Done Short-term?
From Grand Reform Projects to Social Innovation
But in view of the political constraints, youth employment in the Arab world can best be served in the short-term by targeted innovations in programs and policies
Lacking “off-the-shelf” proven models of social innovation in the region, these efforts are responding to the growing need for new thinking and experimentation
These experiments are being championed by actors from the public sectors, civil society and the private sector – often working in tandem and blurring distinctions
•Skills Development and Vocational Training
•Service-based Leaning and Experience Building
•Facilitating Job Information and Career Guidance
•Fostering Youth Entrepreneurship and Access to Finance
•Enabling Small and Medium Enterprises .
New Solutions
Fostering social innovation for Arab youth
Social innovations may not be a substitute for economic reforms in addressing the challenge of youth exclusion in the Arab world; however, they may serve as examples to the larger policy community and – with replication and up-scaling – may effect true change in the lives of the region’s youth.
Core principles for effective implementation of social innovations:
Localization: Effective solutions must be driven by local ownership and informed by local needs.
Integrated solutions: No matter the sector, creating opportunities for youth requires a mix of inputs that are integrated to form an eco-system for systemic change.
Sustainability: For-profit or non-profit, solutions must seek to build sustainable
financial structures that are not dependent on shifting donor goals and expectations.
Technology: ICT applications enable unique efficiency gains and provide new means of engaging beneficiaries.
Partnerships: Maximizing gains depends on strategic partnerships: government, int’l organizations, private sector investors and service providers, and civil society.
Social innovation and investment in youth
A Systemic Approach
• Productize solutions for core issue(s)
• Aggregate an eco-system of partners
• Help partners improve youth focus
• Roll out through regional platforms
Core Principles
• Localization
• Integrated solutions
• Sustainability
• Technology
• Partnerships
ANGEL INVESTOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP CENTERS
PEER 2 PEER YOUTH SAVINGS
YOUTH MICROFINANCE
TH
SCALE THE
CHALLENGE
TAMHEED MOBILE & WEB EMPLOYABILITY
PORTALS
MICRO ENTERPRISE ViRTUAL WORK
QUALITY JOBS
OPEN COURSEWARE VIRTUAL INTERNSHIPS
